The Nova Scotia Securities Commission has approved a Settlement Agreement between its staff and Clarke Inc. and Geosam Investments Limited who admitted to failing to comply with Nova Scotia securities laws.
This follows an investigation by Commission staff, with the assistance of staff of the Autorité des Marchés Financiers.
In the settlement agreement, Clarke and Geosam admitted they failed to exercise due diligence to determine whether certain information was material and admit that they acted contrary to the public interest.
Clarke Inc and Geosom Investments Limited have agreed to pay, jointly and severally, an administrative penalty of $400,000 to the NSSC. They will also each pay $15,000 in costs in connection with the investigation.
For more information, see the settlement agreement or the order.
Tagged as: settlement agreements
In the recently released CSA Investor Index 2009, 41% of Nova Scotians reported that they were approached with a possibly fraudulent investment. One out of four said they were approached five or more times with a potential investment fraud.
With fraud attempts so prevalent, how can you work to protect yourself? To start, you want to be familiar with the Red Flags of Fraud – five signs that an investment opportunity might be fraudulent or inappropriate.
To help investors become more familiar with the signs of fraud, and more comfortable in their investment decisions, my colleagues at the Alberta and BC securities commissions have combined forces to provide an online tool to help you learn how to protect your money.
The interactive tool entitled Investment Scams: How to Protect Your Money, focuses on some common methods that fraudsters use to approach potential victims – via friend and family or ‘affinity’, the Internet, seminars and advertisements. The online resource engages users with an opening quiz and testimonials to raise awareness of the ways fraudsters attract their victims. The testimonials are based on real cases depicting how people are drawn into scams.
The comprehensive tool provides information about how to recognize, research and prevent fraud. Offered as modules that can be easily accessed and shared, the resource provides investors with checklists and tips to help them evaluate and research investment opportunities for risks and potential fraud. As well, there are features within the resource to help investors directly email questions to a person offering them an investment and submit a complaint to the securities regulators.
To try it out for yourself, visit the site of either the Alberta or British Columbia Securities Commissions. Some of the information presented will be specific to those provinces. To see how the same might apply in Nova Scotia, contact me, or pose a question in the comments below.
Also available, from the Alberta Securities Commission, is a similar tool Who’s Taking Care of Your Money? This online course guides you through the process of choosing and working with a financial adviser. For both novices and experienced investors, it includes information on managing your relationship with your adviser, and how to file a complaint if needed.
Tagged as: Add new tag, alberta, british columbia, fraud, Statistics, survey
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